Malcolm Miller

Specialist anaesthetist, qualified at University of Cape Town in 2004., Completed my medical training at University of Stellenbosch in 1994
Sub-specialized in Critical Care at Groote Schuur Hospital in 2006 and obtained the Certificate in Critical care medicine in 2008 through the College of Medicine of South Africa.

Currently working as a senior specialist in Anaesthesia and Critical Care at Groote Schuur Hospital. Past Chairperson of the Critical Care Society of South Africa, Western Cape Branch. Also, the course director of the BASIC course (a two-day course introducing doctors to caring for seriously ill patients).

Interests include Trauma, Abdominal compartment syndrome, Nutrition in critical illness and Antibiotic stewardship

Publications:
Numerous papers on Thromboelastography , Intra-abdominal hypertension and Gut dysfunction.

Research:
The role of a bio-artificial liver in a porcine model of ischaemic liver failure.
Coagulation studies using Thromboelastography

Renier Coetzee

Renier Coetzee is an associate professor at the University of the Western Cape's (UWC) School of Public Health (SOPH). His work focuses on antimicrobial stewardship, with a particular emphasis on improving antibiotic use in low- and middle-income countries, specifically in primary healthcare settings. In addition to his research, Renier is dedicated to community engagement and empowerment. He works closely with local communities to develop and implement sustainable health interventions, promoting health equity and social justice. Through his work, Renier seeks to bridge the gap between academia and community, ensuring that research is translated into meaningful action. His commitment to antimicrobial stewardship and community engagement has made a significant impact in the field, and his work continues to inspire and inform public health initiatives.

Recognized for his outstanding contributions, Renier has been honored with prestigious awards, including the University of the Western Cape Community Engagement Award and the Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award from the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences. In addition to his academic and community work, he serves as the Deputy President of the Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa, furthering his influence in the field.

Esmita Charani

She is an honorary Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town, a visiting Researcher at Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway, and an Adjunct Professor at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kerala, India, where she is involved in helping implement and investigate national antibiotic stewardship programmes.

After completing her post-graduate training in Cambridge University Hospitals and ten years of experience as a clinical pharmacist in hospitals, Esmita began her research career. In her academic career the focus of her research has been behaviour change interventions in the field of antimicrobial stewardship, and the application of social science research methods to develop contextually relevant solutions. She is an investigator on an NIHR Invention for Innovation award investigating the development and use of a point-of-care personalised clinical decision support tool for antimicrobial prescribing, and is co-investigator on the ESRC award: “Optimising antibiotic use along surgical pathways: addressing antimicrobial resistance and improving clinical outcomes” (in England, Scotland, Rwanda, India & South Africa; 2017-2021).

Her work in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been recognised through an Academy of Medical Sciences UK-India AMR Visiting Professor award. She is an expert advisor to the Commonwealth Pharmacy Association and a Global Health Fellow with the Office of the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, England. She is involved in mentoring and supporting clinical pharmacists to implement antimicrobial stewardship interventions across different healthcare settings and economies. Her doctoral thesis investigated antimicrobial stewardship in India, Norway, France, Burkina Faso and England. She is also the Research Lead for Practice, Design and Engineering at the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit for Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance within the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London.
Esmita completed her Masters (MPharm Hons) in Pharmacy at University College London, her MSc in Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and read for her PhD at Imperial College London.

Adrian Brink

Professor Adrian Brink is Head of the Division: Medical Microbiology, and member of the Institute of Infectious Disease & Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town and the National Health Laboratory Services, Groote Schuur hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.

Prof Brink was founding President of the Federation of Infectious Diseases Societies of Southern Africa and is the founder and currently co-chairs the South African Antibiotic Stewardship Program (SAASP).

His is main research interests are the clinical and molecular epidemiology of antibiotic-resistant infections, the mechanisms of resistance as a confounder in antibiotic stewardship, the design and implementation of large-scale antibiotic stewardship, diagnostic stewardship and infection prevention and control interventions in low and middle-income countries. The current focus alsoincludes the protective, metabolic and immune functions of the gastro-intestinal and - vaginal biome Inc. the resistome and metabolome.

Dena van den Bergh

Dr Dena van den Bergh is an honorary research associate at UCT Dept. of Medicine Division of Infectious diseases and HIV and has led and published multiple large-scale collaborative AMS and IPC implementation studies across private and public sector hospitals. She has served as a healthcare executive leader with large multinational hospital and healthcare organisations in South Africa where she spearheaded large-scale change to improve healthcare systems and patient outcomes. Dena’s expertise spans a unique blend of clinical know-how, leadership competencies and a doctorate in systems engineering. In addition to her research in AMS implementation, Dena works independently with leaders, teams, and organisations to successfully implement health systems improvement co-designed with stakeholders. Her goal is to empower accomplished and emerging healthcare leaders to make a powerful impact in shaping the future of health systems globally while inspiring them to thrive in their lives and their careers.

Anastasia (Tasha) Koch

Dr Anastasia Koch co-founded Eh!woza together with conceptual artist Ed Young in 2013. The organisation operates at the intersection of public engagement, youth advocacy, science communication and skills development to merge the biology of infectious disease with its social impact.
Anastasia graduated with a PhD from the University of Cape Town in 2015 and in 2017 was awarded a Carnegie Corporation DEAL fellowship under the mentorship of Prof. Digby Warner in the MMRU lab at UCT.

In 2020, Eh!woza was awarded a Wellcome Trust Discretionary Award and was established as an independent NPO. Anastasia shifted focus to work on Eh!woza full-time while maintaining a position in the MMRU as an Honorary Lecturer. She has a strong interest in translating complex biomedical concepts into relatable media and developing collaborations that can facilitate impactful public engagement work.

Oral Abstract Presentations (O6): Outbreaks, Infectious Disease Surveillance and Epidemiology

Oral Abstract Presentations (09): Social Context Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Infections

Oral Abstract Presentations (07): Parasitology & Vector-Borne Infections

Oral Abstract Presentations (05): One Health

Oral Abstract Presentations (04): Microbes, Pathogenesis & Host Immunity

Oral Abstract Presentations (03): Innovations in Infectious Diseases, Prevention & Control

Oral Abstract Presentations (02): HAIs, Antimicrobials & Bacteremia

Working Group (WG1): Guide to Infection Control Working Group

Participants:

Review/Update current status of Guide
Gonzalo Bearman – Virginia Commonwealth University, USA

Review data on the Guide performance
Shaheen Mehtar – Stellenbosch Univeristy, South Africa

Guide materials that were published in IJID as review articles
Angela Dramowski – Stellenbosch University, South Africa

New content areas
Arifa Parker – Stellenbosch Univeristy, South Africa

Policy Discussion (PD2): Pandemic Centers

Moderator:

Paul Brown – University of the West Indies, Jamaica

Discussants:

Jide Idris – Nigeria Centre for Disease Control & Prevention, Nigeria
Mohammed Abdulaziz – Africa CDC, Ethiopia

Scientific (S9): Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - Maternal Immunization: New Products and a Pathway to Introduction

Chair: 

Keith Klugman – Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USA

Speakers:

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)
Heather Zar – University of Cape Town, South Africa

Group B Streptococcus (GBS)
Ziyaad Dangor – University of Witwatersrand, South Africa

Maternal Immunization Readiness Network for Africa and Asia
Michelle Groome – University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
Hellen Barsosio – Kenya Medical Research Institute, South Africa

Scientific (S8): Perspectives from ISID Emerging Leaders – AMR Under One Health

Chair: 

Fatima Aziz – University of Karachi, Pakistan

Co-Chair: 

Elita Jauneikaite – Imperial College London, UK

Speakers:

Social determinants and Climate change
Vrinda Nampoothiri – Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, India

Emerging technologies
Laura Oliveira – Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Surveillance of AMR in One Health
Elita Jauneikaite – Imperial College London, UK

Scientific (S22): Antimicrobials and Vaccines – Equitable Global Access

Speakers:

Why Equity Matters for the Global South
Fatima Hassan – Health Justice Initiative (HJI), South Africa

Global production and supply through the lens of common pool resources
Tom Ashfield – The Sign Post, UK

Accelerating access to antibiotics – a model to address existing and new antibiotics
Kim Faure – Global Antibiotic R&D Partnership (GARDP), South Africa

Plenary (P1): The Polycrisis and Policy Failure: a Perfect Storm for AMR

Chair:

Paul Tambyah – Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore

Speaker:

Sabiha Essack – South African Research Chair in Antibiotic Resistance & One Health & Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences, South Africa

Plenary (P2): Tuberculosis

Chair:

Jaffar Al-Tawfiq – Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Saudi Arabia

Speaker:

Alex Pym – Wellcome Trust, UK

Plenary (P3): Updates on AMR

Chair:

Alison Holmes – University of Liverpool, UK

Speaker:

Anna Levin – University of São Paulo, Brazil

Workshop (W4): The Pharmacist’s Role in the Infectious Diseases Team

Facilitators:

Oluchi Mbamalu – University of Cape Town, South Africa
Angeliki Messina – Netcare Group, South Africa
Debra Goff – The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy, USA

Workshop (W3): Clinical Microbiology – the Future is Here

Facilitators:

Adrian Brink – University of Cape Town, South Africa
Margaret Ip – Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Yahaya Mohammed – Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Nigeria

Workshop (W2): AMR Stewardship – What the ID Professional Needs to Know!

Facilitators:

Afreenish Amir – National Institute of Health, Pakistan
Esmita Charani – University of Cape Town, South Africa
Sasheela Ponnampalavanar – University Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia

Workshop (W1): Epidemiologic Intelligence and Forecasting Approaches

Facilitators:

Rokhaya Diagne – Afyasense, Senegal
Auss Abbood – Robert Koch Institute, Germany
Jake Hightower – Ruvos, USA

Meet-the-Expert (M5): Urinary Tract Infections

Experts:

Sally Roberts – Health New Zealand, Te Whatu Ora, New Zealand
Paul Tambyah – National University Hospital, Singapore

Meet-the-Expert (M4): Surgical Infections and Antibiotic Use

Experts:

Sasheela Ponnampalavanar – University Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia
Bruce Biccard – University of Cape Town, South Africa

Plenary (P4): Research from Africa for Africa: Global Health Solutions from African Researchers

Speaker:

Tumani Corrah – Africa Research Excellence Fund, Gambia

Scientific (S21): Current Updates in Tuberculosis

Chair:

Sean Wasserman – University of London, UK

Speakers:

Better and shorter treatments for tuberculosis: an advancing frontier
Graeme Meintjes – University of Cape Town, South Africa

Host macrophage diversity as a driver of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection outcome
Henry Mwandumba – Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Research Programme, Malawi

Optimising therapy for TB meningitis
Sean Wasserman – University of London, UK

Scientific (S20): Point of Care Testing

Chair:

Adeeba Kamarulzaman – Monash University, Malaysia

Speakers:

Innovative Molecular Diagnostics: Revolutionizing Infectious Disease Detection and Combating Antimicrobial Resistance
Jesus Rodriguez Manzano – Centre for Antimicrobial Optimisation (CAMO), UK

Latest advances on POCTs for STIs
Yuka Manabe – Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, USA

Human Helminth Infections: Improving Diagnostics for Control and Elimination Programs
Sitara Swarna Rao – The Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory, Christian Medical College, India

Scientific (S19): Hepatitis B and C – Global Opportunities

Speakers:

The pathway to Viral Hepatitis Elimination – Where are we in Africa?
Wendy Spearman – University of Cape Town, South Africa

Hepatitis B and C- Preventable neglected diseases
Adebola Olayinka – Infection Control African Network, Nigeria

Experience in 100 Egyptian villages and a village in Nigeria
Gamal Shiha – Mansoura University, Egypt

Scientific (S18): Biomedical Interventions on STI Prevention

Speakers:

Prevention of Haemophilus ducreyi infections: one organism, two stories
Stan Spinola – Indiana University School Of Medicine, USA

Advances in biomedical prevention for STIs
Sinead Delany-Moretlwe – University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Scientific (S17): Hospital-Acquired Infections – How Much Can We Prevent

Chair:

Gonzalo Bearman – Virginia Commonwealth University, USA

Speakers:

Striving for Zero: Reducing Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) - A Target, Vision, or Philosophy
Jaffar Al-Tawfiq – Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Saudi Arabia

Leadership in Healthcare Epidemiology and Medicine: A football (Soccer) Enthusiasts Perspective
Gonzalo Bearman – Virginia Commonwealth University, USA

Talk Title - TBA
Shagufta Hussain – World Health Organization (WHO), Pakistan

Scientific (S16): Pediatric infectious diseases - Challenges and Opportunities

Chair: 

Helena Maltezou – National Public Health Organization, Greece

Speakers:

Involving children in platform trials for infectious diseases across the life course: SNAP and STRAP Trials
Asha Bowen – Telethon Kids Institute, Australia

Advances in vaccine-preventable diseases
Helena Maltezou – National Public Health Organization, Greece

Closing the equity gap – opportunities and challenges in unlocking the value of immunising children
Rudzani Muloiwa – University of Cape Town, South Africa

Scientific (S14): Best of HIV-ID Joint Meeting: From Kenya to South Africa

Chair:

Connie Walyaro – International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID), Kenya

Speakers:

Introduction/Overview of the joint HIV/ID conference
Walter Jaoko – University of Nairobi, Kenya

Key Findings from the Joint HIV/ID Conference 2023, Kenya
Loice Ombajo – National University of Singapore, Singapore

Lessons learnt from the joint ID/HIV conference
Laz Momanyi – National AIDS and STI Control Programme (NASCOP), Kenya

Scientific (S15): Clinical Management of Hard-to-Treat Infections

Chair:

Paul Tambyah – National University Hospital, Singapore

Speakers:

Persistent challenges in advanced HIV disease management in the era of antiretroviral therapy
Henry Mwandumba – Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Research Programme, Malawi

Challenges in Managing Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Infections
George Varghese – Christian Medical College, India

The Infection Dilemma: Clinical Insights into Hard-to-Treat Infection
Sipho Dlamini – University of Cape Town, South Africa

Scientific (S13): Respiratory Infections

Chair: 

Jaffar Al-Tawfiq – Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Saudi Arabia

Speakers:

Antiviral Therapeutics Discovery for Enterovirus D68
Justin Chu – National University of Singapore, Singapore

Advances in prevention of RSV in infants
Heather Zar – University of Cape Town, South Africa

Respiratory Tract Infections at Mass Gatherings
Jaffar Al-Tawfiq – Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Saudi Arabia

Scientific (S12): Interacting with the Online World: Misinformation & Vaccine Confidence

Speakers:

Empowering healthcare workers to counter misinformation and rebuild vaccine confidence
Hannelie Meyer – Sefako Makgatho Health Science University, South Africa

Africa CDC role and interventions to improve vaccine confidence in Africa
Mohammed Abdulaziz – Africa CDC, Ethiopia

Waves of online misinformation erode the shores of vaccine confidence
Elizabeth Oduwole – Vaccines for Africa (VACFA), South Africa

Scientific (S11): Equity in AMR

Chair:

Esmita Charani – University of Cape Town, South Africa

Co-Chair:

Deepshikha Batheja – One Health Trust, India

Speakers:

Power and representation in global health research and infectious diseases
Sipho Dlamini – University of Cape Town, South Africa

Gender and antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention and control practices
Vrinda Nampoothiri – Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, India

Science communication and community engagement in AMR and the need for co-design
Anastasia Koch – University of Cape Town, South Africa

Closing Remarks

Plenary (P6): Emerging and Re-emerging Issues in HIV

Chair:

Sally Roberts – Health New Zealand, Te Whatu Ora, New Zealand

Speaker:

Adeeba Kamarulzaman – Monash University, Malaysia

Policy Discussion (PD4): Advancing Clinical Trials

Moderator:

George Varghese – Christian Medical College, India

Discussants:

Adebola Olayinka – Infection Control African Network, Nigeria
Mo Yin – National University of Singapore, Singapore
Asha Bowen – Telethon Kids Institute, Australia

Scientific (S28): New Targets and Approaches to Vaccines

Chair:

Robert Heyderman – University College London, UK

Speakers:

New targets and approaches to vaccines
Mohammed Abdulaziz – Africa CDC, Ethiopia

NITAG Support Hub (NISH)- Innovative Approach to Supporting Vaccines Decision-Making in Africa
Benjamin Kagina – University of Cape Town, South Africa

Scientific (S27): Dengue

Chair:

Paul Tambyah – National University Hospital, Singapore

Speakers:

Challenges in clinical management of Dengue
Priscila Rupali – Christian Medical College Vellore, India

Codon-Optimized Genome Recoding: A Genetically Stable Live Attenuated Flavivirus Vaccine
Justin Chu – National University of Singapore, Singapore

Epidemics of Dengue and Reemergence of Chikungunya in Latin America
Alfonso Javier Rodriguez-Morales – Fundacion Universitaria Autonoma de las Americas, Colombia

Oral Abstract Presentations (09)

Scientific (S26): AMR Surveillance and Diagnostics

Chair:

Connie Walyaro – International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID), Kenya

Speakers:

Platform solutions for AMR: is a combined diagnostic, surveillance and therapeutic solution possible?
Tom Ashfield – The Sign Post, UK

AMR Surveillance in Africa: Are We There Yet?
Sabiha Essack – South African Research Chair in Antibiotic Resistance & One Health & Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences, South Africa

CARB-X – Accelerating the Development of Novel Tools against AMR
Richard Alm – CARB-X, USA

Policy Discussion (PD3): Sources of Funding in Global Health

Scientific (S25): AI and Infectious Diseases

Speakers:

AI for Antibiotic Discovery
Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez – University of Pennsylvania, USA

Spatial modelling of vector-borne diseases: Where? When? How many?
Cedric Marsboom – Avia-GIS, Belgium

Application of AI in malaria detection
Rokhaya Diagne – Afyasense, Senegal

Scientific (S24): Fungal Resistance, Diagnostics, and Therapy Updates

Chair:

Afreenish Amir – National Institute of Health, Pakistan

Speakers:

Human monoclonal antibodies targeting novel, fungal cell wall proteins offer superior therapeutic efficacy in a preclinical model of infection
Soumya Payilli – University of Aberdeen, UK

Amplifying the ‘F’ word: The rise of drug-resistant fungi in Africa
Iriagbonse Osaigbovo – UBTH: University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

Vaginal Candida spp. colonization, infection and drug susceptibility in adult women- a clinical study
Fingani Mphande – King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Thailand

Oral Abstract Presentations (O8): Vaccines & Vaccine Development

Scientific (S23): Neglected Infectious Diseases

Speakers:

Designing a Global Surveillance and Forecasting System for Selected Vector-borne Diseases
Assaf Anyamba – Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), USA

Reducing neglected zoonotic infections: One Health is essential and overcoming challenges must be a priority!
Arifa Parker – Stellenbosch Univeristy, South Africa

The impact of climate change on vector-borne neglected infectious diseases
Moses Bockarie – Njala University, Sierra Leone

Plenary (P5): Pandemic Preparedness

Chair:

Neelika Malavige – University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka

Speaker:

Olajide Idris – Nigeria Centre for Disease Control & Prevention (NCDC), Nigeria

Meet-the-Expert (M8): Career in Public Health/Global Health

Experts:

Alison Holmes – University of Liverpool, UK
Adeeba Kamarulzaman – Monash University, Malaysia

Meet-the-Expert (M7): Neonatal Infections

Experts:

Adrie Bekker – University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
Rudzani Muloiwa – University of Cape Town, South Africa

Meet-the-Expert (M6): Meet ProMED

Scientific (S10): What’s New in Mycobacteriology?

Chair: 

Afreenish Amir – National Institute of Health, Pakistan

Speakers:

Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission: the importance of precision
Digby Warner – University of Cape Town, South Africa

Opportunities and Challenges in Early-Stage TB Drug Discovery: Targeting DNA Replication as a Case Study
Valerie Mizrahi – University of Cape Town, South Africa

What's new in TB treatment?
Cynthia Chee – Singapore TB Control Unit, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore

Scientific (S7): Rabies: Key Areas

Chair: 

Lucille Blumberg – National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), South Africa

Speakers:

Lessons learned from scaling up dog vaccination against rabies in Tanzania
Maganga Sambo – Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania

Rabies in seals in the Western Cape, an unprecedented event
Lucille Blumberg – National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), South Africa

Talk Title - TBA
Lesley van Helden –  Western Cape Department of Agriculture, South Africa

Scientific (S6): Global Genomic ID Surveillance and Response

Chair:

Nicholas Feasey – St Andrews University, UK

Co-Chair: 

Peter Nyasulu – Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Speakers:

Pathogen genomics in the future of Public Health: a global perspective
Josefina Campos – World Health Organisation (WHO), Argentina

Integrating genomics and diagnostics in the detection and control of infectious diseases
Deborah Williamson – UK Health Security Agency, UK

Utility of environmental surveillance of pathogens in Malawi
Nicholas Feasey – St Andrews University, UK

Scientific (S5): Enteric Infections

Chair:

Yahaya Mohammed – Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

Speakers:

Rising Tide of Antibiotic Resistance in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Meta-Analysis of Vibrio cholerae Susceptibility (2014-2024)
Yahaya Mohammed – Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

Impact of typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) against culture confirmed typhoid in Sindh, Pakistan
Farah Naz Qamar – Aga Khan University, Pakistan

Parasitic Diarrhoea: an Overview
John Frean – National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa

Unusual Antibiotics Resistant Two-Strain Cholera Outbreak in Lebanon, 2022-2023
Ghassan M. Matar – American University Of Beirut, Lebanon

Policy Discussion (PD1): Health Systems Resilience

Moderator:

Paul Brown – University of the West Indies, Jamaica

Discussants:

Mohammed Nasir Sambo – ABU Zaria, Nigeria
Kyeng Mercy Tetuh – Africa CDC, Cameroon

Oral Abstracts Session (O1): AMR and Antimicrobial Stewardship

Scientific (S4): Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Wastewater Surveillance

Speakers:

Innovative Strategies for the Implementation of Sewage Surveillance in Dhaka’s converging informal sewage network
Md Ohedul Islam – University of Virginia, USA

Novel Amplicon Sequencing for Salmonella Typhi Genotyping and Antimicrobial Resistance Identification in Wastewater
Jaspreet Mahindroo – Imperial College London, UK

Optimising Wastewater Sample Processing for Multiple Pathogen Detection
Shannon Fitz – Imperial College London, UK

Seasonal Patterns in Typhoid Environmental Surveillance in Ibadan, Nigeria
Aderemi Kehinde – University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Lessons learned in establishing a wastewater-based surveillance network to support infectious disease surveillance in South Africa
Sibonginkosi Maposa – National Institute For Communicable Diseases, South Africa

Does wastewater surveillance have a role in vaccine-preventable disease control? A comparison of clinical and wastewater surveillance data for hepatitis A, E, measles
Kerrigan McCarthy – National Institute For Communicable Diseases, South Africa

Wastewater-based epidemiology surveillance of cholera outbreak in Tshwane, South Africa: Valuable lesson for resource limited settings
Noel David Nogbou – Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, South Africa

Normalization of wastewater-based epidemiology data for pathogen surveillance: a case study of campus-wide SARS-CoV-2 surveillance at a South African university
Rianita Van Onselen – South African Medical Research Council, South Africa

Gut Inflammatory Proteins Associated with Environmental Enteric Dysfunction Can Be Measured in Wastewater
Mami Taniuchi – University of Virginia, USA

Scientific (S3): HIV - Hot Topics

Chair:

Adeeba Kamarulzaman – Monash University, Malaysia

Speakers:

Prevention and treatment of HIV: recent advances and ongoing challenges
Graeme Meintjes – University of Cape Town, South Africa

Advanced HIV as a Neglected Disease
Joe Jarvis – London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK

HIV vaccines: strategies to achieve this?
Glenda Gray – South African Medical Research Council, South Africa

Scientific (S2): ID in Special Situations/Contexts

Chair:

Helena Maltezou – National Public Health Organization, Athens, Greece

Co-Chair: 

Abdulrazaq G. Habib – Bayero University, Nigeria

Speakers:

Challenges and prospects of managing infectious diseases among pastoral and migrant populations
Abdulrazaq G. Habib – Bayero University Kano, Nigeria

Emerging infections in children
Helena Maltezou – National Public Health Organization, Athens, Greece

Lessons from genomic surveillance of neonatal sepsis in Malawi
Nicholas Feasey – St Andrews University, UK

Meet-the-Expert (M3): Meet the Editors

Experts:

Lucille Blumberg – National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), South Africa
Eskild Petersen – Aarhus University, Denmark
Moses Bockarie – Njala University, Sierra Leone

Meet-the-Expert (M2): Infections in Immunocompromised

Experts:

Tan Ban Hock – Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
Sipho Dlamini – University of Cape Town, South Africa

Meet-the-Expert (M1): Lab Biosafety and Biosecurity

Experts:

Mona El-Shokry – Ain Shams University, Egypt
Selisha Naidoo – University of Cape Town, South Africa

Scientific (S1): One Health: Surveillance

Chair:

Lucille Blumberg – National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), South Africa

Speakers:

One Health surveillance to investigate emerging and reemerging zoonotic arbovirus epidemiology in South Africa
Marietjie Venter – University of Pretoria, South Africa

One-Health surveillance of ticks and tick-borne diseases in Europe: Tick-borne Encephalitis (TBE) as a case study
Annapaola Rizzoli – Fondazione Edmund Mach, Italy

Never say never: One Health in Africa
Wolfgang Preiser – Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Jake Hightower

Jake serves as the Data Science Manager for Ruvos, a company specializing in cloud-based data transfer and analytics. The Data Science team unites expertise in computer science, statistics, and AI/ML infrastructure with deep knowledge of the fields of public health and epidemiology to create products and services that help public health agencies. His main interest is advanced modeling, forecasting, and simulation of infectious diseases but enjoys building anything that bridges quality analytics to better serve the global community.

Sasheela Ponnampalavanar

Dr Sasheela Ponnampalavanar (MBBS, MMed, DTM&H) is a Consultant Infectious Disease Physician at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) and Professor of Medicine at University Malaya, Malaysia. She heads the hospital Infection Control Department and chairs the Antimicrobial Stewardship(AMS) Committee. She was awarded the 2020/2021 Fulbright scholarship, and was attached to the Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control Department at the John Hopkins Hospital.

As a Committee Member of The Malaysian National Antimicrobial Resistance Committee and Technical Working Group for The National Action Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) since 2017, she is involved in the development and implementation of national guidelines and training modules related to AMR, AMS and infection prevention and control (IPC).

Her main interest are in AMS , IPC, AMR and healthcare environment hygiene (HEH). She is involved in several local and international research collaborations and published in peer reviewed journals.

Esmita Charani

She is an honorary Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town, a visiting Researcher at Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway, and an Adjunct Professor at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kerala, India, where she is involved in helping implement and investigate national antibiotic stewardship programmes.

After completing her post-graduate training in Cambridge University Hospitals and ten years of experience as a clinical pharmacist in hospitals, Esmita began her research career. In her academic career the focus of her research has been behaviour change interventions in the field of antimicrobial stewardship, and the application of social science research methods to develop contextually relevant solutions. She is an investigator on an NIHR Invention for Innovation award investigating the development and use of a point-of-care personalised clinical decision support tool for antimicrobial prescribing, and is co-investigator on the ESRC award: “Optimising antibiotic use along surgical pathways: addressing antimicrobial resistance and improving clinical outcomes” (in England, Scotland, Rwanda, India & South Africa; 2017-2021).

Her work in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been recognised through an Academy of Medical Sciences UK-India AMR Visiting Professor award. She is an expert advisor to the Commonwealth Pharmacy Association and a Global Health Fellow with the Office of the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, England. She is involved in mentoring and supporting clinical pharmacists to implement antimicrobial stewardship interventions across different healthcare settings and economies. Her doctoral thesis investigated antimicrobial stewardship in India, Norway, France, Burkina Faso and England. She is also the Research Lead for Practice, Design and Engineering at the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit for Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance within the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London.

Esmita completed her Masters (MPharm Hons) in Pharmacy at University College London, her MSc in Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and read for her PhD at Imperial College London.

Mohammed Yahaya

Dr. Mohammed Yahaya is an Associate Professor (Reader) and Consultant Clinical Microbiologist affiliated with the Usmanu Danfodiyo University and Teaching Hospital in Sokoto, Nigeria. He previously served as the Head of Department for both institutions (2018-2022).
Dr. Yahaya boasts of over 17 years of experience tackling infectious disease outbreaks and control. He has significantly contributed to national efforts in polio eradication, routine immunization, antimicrobial resistance prevention, cholera control, HIV/AIDS management, and most recently, the COVID-19 response. Notably, he led the team that identified Dengue fever and West Nile Virus in Sokoto in 2016.
A prolific researcher, Dr. Yahaya has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and presented at several conferences. He is actively involved in teaching and mentoring medical students and postgraduate trainees.
Dr. Yahaya is a respected member of the Nigerian medical community, having won several grants and holding fellowships with National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria and the West African College of Physicians.

Margaret Ip

BM (Soton), MSc, DTM&H, FRCPath, FRCP(Lond & Glasg), FRCPA, FHKCPath, FHKAM(Pathology)

Affiliation:
Professor, Department of Microbiology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
Honorary Consultant, Dept of Microbiology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong.

Margaret Ip is Professor and Chairman at the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Honorary Consultant in Clinical Microbiology at the New Territories East Cluster of Hospitals of Hospital Authority of Hong Kong. She has over 25 years’ experience in the treatment and laboratory diagnoses of infections. Her research interests focus on molecular epidemiology of drug-resistant pathogens, inc. MRSA, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus agalactiae and other multidrug-resistant organisms. She works on new diagnostic tools, microbial genomics and metagenomics and has published over 300 international peer-reviewed papers and 5 book chapters, inc in Lancet, Nat Comm, Clin infect Dis amongst others. She serves as an Advisor and Member of Scientific Committees on antimicrobial resistance and infection control and in Expert groups on GBS with WHO and FAO.

Adrian Brink

Professor Adrian Brink is Head of the Division: Medical Microbiology, and member of the Institute of Infectious Disease & Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town and the National Health Laboratory Services, Groote Schuur hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.

Prof Brink was founding President of the Federation of Infectious Diseases Societies of Southern Africa and is the founder and currently co-chairs the South African Antibiotic Stewardship Program (SAASP).

His is main research interests are the clinical and molecular epidemiology of antibiotic-resistant infections, the mechanisms of resistance as a confounder in antibiotic stewardship, the design and implementation of large-scale antibiotic stewardship, diagnostic stewardship and infection prevention and control interventions in low and middle-income countries. The current focus alsoincludes the protective, metabolic and immune functions of the gastro-intestinal and - vaginal biome Inc. the resistome and metabolome.

Dr Oluchi Mbamalu

Dr Oluchi Mbamalu is a Senior Lecturer in the Division of Global Surgery at the University of Cape Town. She is a pharmacist with undergraduate (BPharm) and postgraduate degrees (MPharm, PhD) in Pharmaceutical Sciences. Her experiences span academia, research and pharmacy practice across different sectors in two different regions. She has mentored students in academia, research and pharmacy practice.

Oluchi has a keen interest in wider stakeholder engagement for improved infection care, with a focus on understanding and addressing barriers to patient and community engagement and awareness of infection risks, especially antimicrobial resistant infection risks. This interest has seen her involved in patient- and community-centred infection care initiatives, where she highlights the position of the pharmacist in such engagement. She is the lead investigator on a project to explore and advance patient and public/community engagement in infection care, funded by the National Research Foundation.

Debra Goff

Professor of Pharmacy Practice The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy
Infectious Diseases Specialist, Global Antibiotic Stewardship
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Dr. Goff is an Infectious Diseases Clinical Pharmacist, Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Antibiotic Stewardship Ambassador for The Ohio State University (OSU) Global One Health Institute in Columbus Ohio, USA. She is an awarding winning global “change maker” in infectious diseases. Dr. Goff is one of twenty-five global health experts selected by the World Health Organization (WHO) to implement antibiotic stewardship programs in low middle-income countries. Dr. Goff is the Program Director for the Train the Trainer Antibiotic Stewardship Mentoring Program founded in 2012 with South African pharmacists and physicians. Her program continues to expand to include neonatal ASP and other countries including Lebanon and six Latin American countries in collaboration with country experts and neonatal experts at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus Ohio. She uses X (Twitter) (@idpharmd) to connect with her 10,000 followers. She has 150 publications and 50 grants.

Angeliki Messina

Angeliki Messina is the Head: Digital Clinical Pharmacy of the Netcare Group. Her qualifications include, a B.Pharm (with distinction) and M.Pharm both from the University of the Witwatersrand. Angeliki obtained advanced certification in antibiotic stewardship through the Making a Difference in Infectious Diseases organisation (USA). During her time at Netcare she has co-designed, implemented and managed the Groups’ Antibiotic Stewardship program and is the pharmacy stream lead for the design and implementation of the organisations electronic medical record. Additionally, Angeliki has designed, implemented, and managed three antimicrobial stewardship mobile applications for Netcare hospitals. She has authored and co-authored numerous publications in peer reviewed international academic journals on various successful prospective audit and feedback stewardship initiatives for improvement. Her work has been acknowledged via the receipt of numerous awards including the Discovery Healthcare quality award, the Best Care Always Health systems Improvement Award and the FIDSSA Young Investigator Award.

Asha Bowen

Professor Asha Bowen is a clinician scientist working across the Perth Children’s Hospital as a paediatric infectious disease specialist and the Telethon Kids Institute as Head of the Healthy Skin and ARF Prevention Team. Asha and her team recently launched the second edition of the National Healthy Skin Guideline to guide clinicians in the recognition and evidence-based treatment of skin infections. Asha has more than 10 years’ experience leading infectious diseases research and investigator-initiated clinical trials focused on issues significant to Aboriginal child health and ARF prevention.

Yenew Kebede Tebeje

Dr Yenew Kebede Tebeje is a medical microbiologist and public health expert with 20 years of clinical, teaching, laboratory science, research, capacity building, and programme design and management experience. His achievements include building laboratory systems in low-income countries, human resource capacity development, and development of policy frameworks and guidelines that impact laboratory programmes in Africa. Dr Tebeje currently serves as Head of Division of Laboratory Systems at Africa CDC where he leads programmes to strengthen public health laboratory systems and networks in Africa. In this capacity, he coordinates the establishment and strengthening of regional integrated surveillance and laboratory networks, creation of frameworks for cross-border specimen transportation, geo-mapping of laboratory functions, implementation of biosafety and biosecurity standards, use of point of care technologies and connected diagnostics to strengthen surveillance at community level, and implementation of laboratory quality management systems. He also leads initiatives by Africa CDC and partners to advance the use of laboratory diagnostics for universal health coverage and implementation of health security in Africa. Before joining Africa CDC, Dr Tebeje worked for more than 12 years as Technical Officer and later as Branch Chief for Laboratory at the US CDC in Ethiopia, where he provided strategic leadership for one of the most successful laboratory systems development programmes of the US CDC. Dr Tebeje worked as assistant lecturer, lecturer and later as assistant professor at Gondar College of Medical Science, University of Gondar. He was recognized several times for his outstanding contributions, including the Mission Honor Award, Meritorious Honor Award and US CDC Center for Global Health Director’s Award. He has written lecture notes on microbiology, immunology and parasitology and authored and co-authored more than 30 articles in peer-reviewed journals. Dr Tebeje holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from Gondar College of Medical Sciences, a master’s degree in medical microbiology from Addis Ababa University, and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Gondar.

Auss Abbood

Auss Abbood is a data scientist at the Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s national public health institute, and holds a master's degree in cognitive science from the University of Osnabrück. Passionate about public health surveillance, he has made significant contributions to German surveillance activities, most notably by developing a system to monitor intensive care unit capacity during the pandemic. His expertise has also contributed to the assessment of foreign public health threats, providing critical analysis for the implementation of travel restrictions.

Since his master's degree, he has been fascinated by the use of natural language processing to improve surveillance, which has led to innovative projects aimed at improving event-based surveillance. He is currently cooperating with the WHO Pandemic Hub, where he and his team are applying AI methods to improve signal detection with the Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) system

Rokhaya Diagne

Rokhaya Diagne is a student of Computer Science in Senegal with a fervent passion for leveraging technology to address pressing global health challenges. With a major focus on health applied to technology, she has actively engaged in projects aimed at enhancing disease detection and management. Rokhaya's professional journey includes groundbreaking work in malaria classification using innovative digital microscopy and contributions to underwater species classification for environmental conservation efforts. Her commitment to excellence and innovation has earned her recognition, including prestigious awards and participation in renowned conferences

Richard Alm

Richard joined CARB-X following almost 20 years in large pharma Infection R&D teams followed by 4 years at a small antibacterial biotech company where he supported the progression of small molecule compounds from discovery through to late-stage clinical development and registration. He obtained his PhD in molecular microbiology from the University of Adelaide, and prior to joining industry he had two post-doctoral positions in the AMR area, one in Australia and one in Canada. He currently serves as the Chief Scientist at CARB-X, a global non-profit organization that supports a diverse and innovative pipeline of traditional and non-traditional products to prevent, diagnose, and treat infections caused by drug-resistant bacterial pathogens.

Douglas Scarsi

Douglas Scarsi is a seasoned professional serving as the Senior Director, Client Services at Hybrid Healthcare Communications. Joining Hybrid in 2011, Douglas brought with him a wealth of experience and a commitment to delivering exceptional service. Over the past 12 years, he has played a pivotal role in collaborating with numerous clients, overseeing projects ranging from conventions to state-of-the-art digital engagement assets.

His dedication to client success, coupled with his ability to navigate complex projects with finesse, exemplifies his leadership within the healthcare communications industry. His relentless pursuit of innovation continues to drive positive outcomes for his clients.

Stefan Kaufmann

Research of Stefan Kaufmann focuses on infection biology. He combines basic research and clinical studies for better understanding of protection and pathology of intracellular bacterial infections and for the rational design of novel intervention measures against diseases caused by these pathogens. His research led to the characterization of biosignatures for prediction of active tuberculosis and a novel tuberculosis vaccine which is in several phase III trials for safety and protective efficacy.

Stefan Kaufmann is Founding Director Emeritus of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, Emeritus Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen, and Senior Professor at the Charité University Clinics in Berlin, Germany as well as Faculty Fellow of the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, USA.

He published > 1000 publications mostly in high-ranking journals with > 100,000 citations and is amongst the 0.01% most cited scientists of ca. 7 million scientists in 22 major scientific fields globally. He has received numerous prizes and awards and was President of the German Society for Immunology, the European Federation of Immunological Societies and the International Union of Immunological Societies. He was member of numerous international advisory boards and committees, including World Health Summit, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), TB Alliance and European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP).

Kyeng Mercy Tetuh

Kyeng Mercy Tetuh is an Epidemiologist with over ten years of experience in strengthening health systems to detect and respond promptly to public health threats. She currently leads the Epidemic intelligence unit of Africa CDC. The unit supports the establishment of early warning systems which involves digitalizing EBS processes, strengthening EBS workforce, developing EBS standards and procedures, and establishing Epidemic intelligence networks at national, regional and continental levels to foster early detection and information exchange using the all hazard multisectoral approach. Prior to joining Africa CDC, Kyeng served as the Executive Director of Value Health Africa where she developed and coordinated projects on early detection and reporting of national priority diseases.

Mercy holds a Master's in Public Health and Epidemiology and PHDc in Tropical and infectious disease at the school of health sciences in the University of Nairobi

Tumani Corrah

Professor Sir Tumani Corrah is Emeritus director of the Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia @The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is Founder and President of the Africa Research Excellence Fund (AREF). Established 9 years ago, AREF focusses on the continent’s emerging health researchers, providing them with the knowledge and essential skills to a successful research career in Africa. Research that will impact on policies to improve health and save lives in Africa and the rest of the world. To date AREF has impacted on the scientific careers of over 650 health researchers from 41 African countries.

Anna Levin

Anna Levin is an Associate Professor at the Department of Infectious and Parasitic Disease of The Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP) and the coordinator of the Group of Hospital Infection Control in the Hospital das Clinicas of FMUSP.

Anna’s research expertise includes therapy for resistant infections, interventions to reduce healthcare associated infections, and optimising antimicrobial prescribing practices.

Alex Pym

With an extensive background in molecular microbiology and translational medicine, Alex leads Wellcome’s work on infectious disease, supporting research into ways to reduce the risks and impacts of infectious disease globally.

Alex joined Wellcome from Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson where he led the discovery and development of new drugs for tuberculosis (TB) and related diseases. Alexander spent his early career working as a doctor in rural South Africa, where he led the district TB control program. After working on some of the first HIV clinical trials of HAART in London he completed a PhD in Molecular Microbiology at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, supported by a Wellcome Research Fellowship. He went on to spend over a decade in South Africa working initially on clinical drug development at the South African Medical Research Council, before leading a translational research group at AHRI.

William Wint

Dr. William Wint's expertise spans from ecological entomology in the '70s to tropical and temperate community ecology in the '80s to environmental resource assessment (i.e., flying around Africa in small airplanes counting animals) in the '80s and '90s to spatial analysis, spatial data management, and vector, host, and disease risk modeling in more recent times. More specifically, his current activities focus on mosquito, tick, sandfly, and biting midge-borne diseases in Europe and the rest of the Old World and Bovine TB in the UK. As Managing Director of a small consultancy (Environmental Research Group Oxford Limited) and a Senior Research Associate at the Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Dr. Wint has a foot in the commercial and academic sectors and does his best to promote communication between the two.

Sean Wasserman

Sean Wasserman is a clinical academic with training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases. He has an active program of clinical research on treatment optimization for tuberculosis, HIV, and associated opportunistic infections. His research aims to address clinically significant questions through translational studies, emphasizing reducing the infection burden in underserved populations. Sean has spent most of his career in Cape Town, South Africa. After completing specialist training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, he undertook a PhD in the clinical pharmacology of linezolid for drug-resistant tuberculosis. Sean recently took up a position at St George’s, University of London, as a Reader in Infectious Diseases at the Institute for Infection and Immunity.

Sean maintains an adjunct appointment as Associate Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town, where he is a Principal Investigator at the Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa (CIDRI-Africa). He also holds honorary appointments as an Associate Professor at the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology, University of Exeter, and as an International Fellow at the Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University. Sean was a pharmacologist on the ACTG Tuberculosis Transformative Science Group from 2019 to 2023 and is a member of the NIH-CDC-HIVMA/IDSA Guidelines Committee for Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Adults and Adolescents with HIV.

Constance Walyaro

Constance Georgina Walyaro is a Global Public Health Specialist with considerable experience in Antimicrobial/Antibiotic Resistance (AMR/ABR), Primary Health Care (PHC), and Universal Health Coverage (UHC). She’s the Executive Director of Talk AB[M]R - Talking Resistance and a Thematic Expert for SDGs Goals 1, 3, 5, and 13 for the UN Global Partnership for SDGs - Legal-and-Economic-Empowerment-Network. She’s been involved in developing and domesticating the WHO Global Action Plan on AMR and helped push for greater emphasis on AMR/ABR in SDG3. She’s provided technical support to FAO/WHO Codex Coordinating Committee Africa, the Regional Meeting on Global Health Diplomacy in East and Southern Africa (ESA), for the East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community, and the Regional Network for Equity in Health ESA, in preparation for World Health Assembly. She’s also supported the Governments of Ghana, Thailand, the UK, Wellcome Trust/Fleming Fund, WHO, OIE, FAO, and others in developing and implementing the Ghana Declaration Call to Action on AMR. Additionally, Connie also helped establish ReAct Africa, served as its Communication Coordinator for Africa, championed AMR/ABR action and awareness as Co-Chair of the Advocacy and Awareness subcommittee of the National Antimicrobial Stewardship Advisory Committee (NASAC) - Ministry of Health KE, and further in collaborations with CDDEP-GARP (Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership) ‘State of the Worlds Antibiotics’ and others.

George Varghese

George M. Varghese is a renowned clinician, teacher, and researcher with over two decades of experience in infectious diseases and tropical medicine. He is a Professor at the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India. He has extensive training in infectious diseases and tropical medicine from various centers of excellence, including the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Wayne State University, USA. Dr. Varghese is an expert in infectious diseases and global health, serving on national and international committees, including the Trustee of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, UK, and the Clinical Infectious Diseases Society president. He has contributed to several research areas in infectious diseases and global health, including rickettsial infections, tuberculosis, rabies, melioidosis, and emerging and drug-resistant infections.

Dr. Varghese's recent work includes the INTREST trial, showing the combination therapy of intravenous doxycycline and azithromycin is superior to either drug used alone for severe scrub typhus treatment. This new evidence published in NEJM is expected to save numerous lives. Dr. Varghese has established successful collaborations with leading international experts in rickettsial infections, antimicrobial resistance, and other tropical infections. He has received multiple honors, including the Guerrant International Award from the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the MG Alexander Award in Tropical Medicine from the Clinical Infectious Diseases Society. His contributions have helped establish the specialty of Infectious Diseases in India, where he is widely regarded as a pioneer. Dr. Varghese has published numerous papers in national and international journals and helped improve the understanding and management of infectious diseases, benefiting patients and communities in India and beyond.

Rachel Thomson

Professor Rachel Thomson MBBS Grad Dip (Clin Epi) PhD FRACP. Dr Rachel Thomson is a Thoracic Physician and Lead of the Bronchiectasis and Mycobacterial Diseases Research Group at the Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation, University of Queensland. She conducts specialized mycobacterial clinics at Greenslopes Private, Prince Charles, and Princess Alexandra Hospitals. She has an international reputation for her research into lung disease due to nontuberculous mycobacteria, currently focussing on immunological and environmental aspects of susceptibility to NTM infection, characteristics of the lung microbiome in NTM, and improving treatment outcomes.

Annapaola Rizzoli

Annapaola Rizzoli is a PhD DVM working in the field of health and environment from the One Health perspective. Her primary scientific interest and expertise are in the field of ecology, epidemiology, and risk assessment of emerging vector-borne and zoonotic infectious diseases driven by global changes.

Natalia Pshenichnaya

Natalia Pshenichnaya graduated from medical university in 1991 and finished her internship in infectious diseases in 1993. In 1996, she received her Ph.D. In 2006, she received her D.Sci. in infectious diseases, and in 2011, she became a diploma Professor in infectious diseases. From 1996 to 2019, Natalia worked as an assistant professor, associate Professor Professor, and head of the Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology department at the Rostov State Medical University. From 2011 to 2012, she acted as the WHO project officer for "Climate Change and Health" in WHO CO in Russia. From 2019 to 2020, she worked at the National Medical Research Center of Phthisiopulmonology and Infectious Diseases as the Head of the International Department in Moscow, Russia.

Since June 2020, she has been working as Deputy Director of the clinic and analytic work at the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of The Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) in Moscow, Russia. She is also a Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases at Moscow Regional Research Clinical Institute and an infectious diseases consultant at the Infectious Diseases Hospital #2 in Moscow.

Since 2004, she has been a ProMED-mail RUS moderator for the International Society for Infectious Diseases. Since 2007, she has been involved in WHO activity as a short-term consultant (Influenza, Severe Acute Respiratory Infections, Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever, IHR, IPC, COVID-19). Since 2017, she has acted as Associate Editor of the Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials and since 2019 - a Russian Academy of Science expert. Natalia was a member of the WHO-China joint technical mission to China to support response operation for the COVID-19 outbreak February 2020, Russian military-medical humanitarian mission on COVID-19 in Bergamo (Lombardia province), Italy, 22 March-10 April 2020; WHO GOARN technical and assessment mission on COVID-19 and WHO IPC and clinical management mission on COVID-19 in Tajikistan (May-September 2020), Rospotrebnadzor technical and consultative missions on COVID-19 in Kyrgyzstan (July and August 2020), South Africa (December 2021), typhoid fever in Republic of Congo (August, 2023).

Natalia's areas of scientific interest are influenza and other acute respiratory infections, Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever, West Nile Fever, other zoonotic diseases, acute diarrhea, infectious diseases in travelers, viral hepatitis, etc.

David Patterson

Professor Patterson directs ADVANCE-ID (ADVANcing Clinical Evidence for Infectious Diseases) at Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health. ADVANCE-ID is a clinical trials network comprising more than 40 hospitals across Asia. This network is jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and several Singaporean institutions to conduct clinically essential trials in the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) field. The network comprises trials of antibiotics, diagnostics, and prevention strategies. He is also an Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland and has more than 500 peer-reviewed publications, predominantly in AMR. His research focuses on the molecular and clinical epidemiology of infections with antibiotic-resistant organisms, intending to translate knowledge into optimal prevention and treatment of these infections. Multi-country clinical trials are the primary component of his research portfolio and the predominant focus of ADVANCE-ID.

Eskild Petersen

Professor Petersen of Aarhus University, Denmark, is the longest-serving Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Infectious Diseases (IJID) since its inception in 1996. He has been instrumental in bringing each author's research to scientific publication. Editors like Professor Petersen are curators of scholarship (Franco et al., 2018). The essential components of journal publishing are the technical tasks of handling submitted manuscripts, coordinating reviews, and managing a data repository for the scientific community (Marcovitch, 2008). As a curator, Professor Petersen has applied these editing skills to translate the research submitted to the journal for the intellectual consumption of readers, which for the IJID means practitioners and academics in infectious diseases in both clinical and public health fields. When we reflect on editorship, Professor Petersen's contributions are testimony to the importance of "human-ware" in medical publishing, which cannot be replaced by the ever-expanding application of automated editing software and hardware even in this era of open-access publishing.

Mubarak Mustafa

Dr. Mubarak Elsaeed Mustafa Elkarsany, M.D., is an associate professor of clinical microbiology and infectious diseases at the University of Karary-Sudan. He has been appointed as a university lecturer since 1996 after obtaining his clinical M.D. in pathology and microbiology. He has pursued a career in public health laboratory work with a particular interest in virology and arboviral research in viral hemorrhagic fevers related to Sudan and the African region. He has done several types of research with published articles in field surveillance activities related to dengue fever/dengue hemorrhagic fever, Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, Yellow fever, and Rift Valley fever. He was the first scientist to document the existence of CCHF in Sudan.

Dr. Mustafa has collaborated with the WHO and other partners to develop national guidelines and lab-based surveillance for epidemic-prone diseases. In 2015, he was awarded the International Conference on Emerging Diseases Award by the CDC-USA as a World Health leader. As a temporary consultant, he has collaborated with Public Health-UK, WHO, EMRO, and AFRO regional offices in various part-time missions.

Clemens Müller

Dr. Clemens Müller is Director of Global Medical Affairs at Takeda, Vaccine Business Unit, and has worked with healthcare professionals and medical communities around the globe his entire career. In several functions, he developed and established scientific and medical educational programs globally and lectured at the ETH Zürich (Switzerland) at the Department of Health Science and Technology for almost a decade. He is the author or co-author of >20 peer-reviewed articles.

Mark Miller

Dr. Mark Miller has been an Executive VP and the full-time Chief Medical Officer at bioMérieux, a significant global diagnostics company, since 2012 until his recent retirement in January 2024. He had multiple global roles at bioMérieux, contained within the Medical Office. Dr. Miller was the head of the Global Medical Affairs group comprising over 200 individuals, the creator and head of the Companion Diagnostics activities, and the initiator of the Patient Value Strategy. He was also the originator of the Public and Government Affairs team. His primary focus was defining, advancing, and demonstrating the medical value and health benefits of the company's diagnostic tools, focusing on improving patient outcomes, healthcare institutions, and the entire medical system.

Originally from Montreal, Canada, he is a physician certified in Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, and Clinical Microbiology. He also possesses a Master's degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Before joining bioMérieux, he worked full-time for over 25 years as the Head of Infectious Diseases, the Chair of Infection Prevention and Control, and the Chief of Clinical Microbiology at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, Canada. He ran a large and active Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Unit, which researched novel anti-infectives and vaccines, innovative infectious disease diagnostics, and the epidemiology of healthcare-associated infections, with particular expertise in C. difficile infections. Doctor Miller is a former Full Professor of the Department of Medicine at McGill University. He currently lives in Montreal, Canada.

Julia Maxwell

Julia Maxwell is a public health professional focusing on low- and middle-income countries. She got her start in public health as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guinea before completing her MSc in Public Health in Developing Countries at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her previous roles have included working for an HIV research group and managing an occupational health program. Julia has spent significant time working in Haiti in post-earthquake Port au Prince on a large-scale larviciding project to prevent malaria and dengue fever and in the Northern Department opening primary health care clinics.

Before joining ISID in 2021, she worked as the Senior Project Manager on the Primary Health Care team at Ariadne Labs. Julia is the point person at ISID for all disease surveillance activities, including ISID's Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED). ProMED is the most extensive publicly-available system reporting infectious disease outbreaks globally. It is used daily by international public health leaders, government officials at all levels, physicians, veterinarians and other healthcare workers, researchers, private companies, journalists, and the general public. Reports are produced, and commentary is provided by a multidisciplinary global team of subject matter expert (SME) moderators in various fields, including virology, parasitology, epidemiology, entomology, and veterinary and plant diseases.

Ghassan Matar

Dr. Ghassan M. Matar is currently a Professor and Chairperson in the Department of Experimental Pathology, Immunology & Microbiology, Associate Director & Laboratory Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research (CIDR), and Director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Reference & Research on Bacterial Pathogens at the Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut (AUB). Professor Matar is a resource advisor in the WHO-Advisory Group on Integrated Surveillance of Antimicrobial Agents (AGISAR) and served as the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Ambassador to Lebanon and Chair of the ASM Ambassador Leadership Circle (2011-2017). He has served as an academic advisor to 52 graduate students, published 113 articles in refereed international journals, and delivered 130 abstracts at global, regional, and local conferences. Professor Matar received funding from various extramural sources such as the CDC, U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), WHO/AGISAR, PulseNet (CDC, WHO, MOPH), and others. His laboratory is involved in PulseNet International/Middle East (MoPH/CDC/WHO) and a WHO Collaborating Center for Reference & Research on Bacterial Pathogens.

Helena Maltezou

Professor Maltezou is a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at the National Public Health Organization in Greece. She received her MD at the University of Crete. She trained in pediatrics at the University of Athens and infectious diseases at the University of Texas, Houston, and the University of Marseille. She has over 250 published articles and edited the book Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases (2010). She received the 2001 European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases Award. Dr. Maltezou is a Visiting Professor at the Universities of Bari and Catania, Italy, and academic institutions in China. Her main interests include COVID-19, influenza, and vaccinations.

Neelika Malavige

Neelika Malavige is a Professor at the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, and a member of the International Society of Infectious Diseases Executive Committee. She is an academic visitor at the MRC Human Immunology Unit, University of Oxford, and has been focusing on immunopathogenesis of dengue biomarkers and translating these findings into clinical trials. She heads the Global Dengue Program at the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative and works on COVID-19 vaccine responses, pathogen surveillance, and host-pathogen interactions.

Sadaf Lynes

Sadaf Lynes, MSc, MBA, MPH, IPFPH, MRCPH, has 23 years of experience at the executive director level across health system strengthening and public health in the United Kingdom and internationally. Her expertise includes:
        • Strategy and implementation.
        • Greenfield development.
        • Research and development.
        • Program and business development through full-time positions.
        • Consultancy work.
She also teaches on a UK Russell Group level 7 Masters in Public Health and Health Promotion. She has a Master's degree in Zoology, a Master's degree in Business Administration (UK), and a Master's in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is originally from the UK but resides in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Larry Lutwick

Dr. Larry Lutwick has almost 50 years of experience in academic Infectious Diseases. With postgraduate training at Barnes Hospital and Stanford University Medical Center, he has written or co-written over 100 papers, almost two dozen book chapters, and edited several books. He was the Founding Editor-in-Chief of ID Cases and is a moderator for the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED).

David Lewis

David Lewis is the Director of Western Sydney Sexual Health Centre and holds Professorships at the Universities of Sydney and Cape Town. His research interests include antimicrobial resistance, STI surveillance, genital ulcer disease, and STI care in resource-poor settings. He is an elected Council member of the International Society for Infectious Diseases and a Past President of the International Union against STIs. For over a decade, David served as Deputy Editor for Sexually Transmitted Infections and remains an Editorial Board member. David is a Member of the World Health Organization’s Strategic Technical and Advisory Committee for HIV, viral hepatitis, and STIs.

Ramanan Laxminarayan

Dr. Ramanan Laxminarayan is the founder and president of the One Health Trust, founded as the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP). He is a senior research scholar at Princeton University. He is an affiliate professor at the University of Washington, a senior associate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a visiting professor at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland. Dr. Laxminarayan chairs the board of GARD-P, a global product development partnership created by the World Health Organization to develop and deliver new treatments for bacterial infections. He is the founder and board chair at HealthCubed, which works to improve access to healthcare and diagnostics worldwide.

Kyeng Mercy Tetuh

Kyeng Mercy Tetuh is an Epidemiologist with over ten years of experience in strengthening health systems to detect and respond promptly to public health threats. She currently leads the Epidemic intelligence unit of Africa CDC. The unit supports the establishment of early warning systems which involves digitalizing EBS processes, strengthening EBS workforce, developing EBS standards and procedures, and establishing Epidemic intelligence networks at national, regional and continental levels to foster early detection and information exchange using the all hazard multisectoral approach. Prior to joining Africa CDC, Kyeng served as the Executive Director of Value Health Africa where she developed and coordinated projects on early detection and reporting of national priority diseases.

Mercy holds a Master's in Public Health and Epidemiology and PHDc in Tropical and infectious disease at the school of health sciences in the University of Nairobi

Keith Klugman

Professor Keith Klugman is the Director of the Pneumonia, Meningitis, Neonatal Sepsis, Antimicrobial Resistance and Surveillance and Epidemic Preparedness and Response Programs at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, Washington. He is the Emeritus William H. Foege Chair of Global Health at the Hubert Department of Global Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, he serves as an Honorary Professor in the Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Professor Klugman is a past president of the International Society of Infectious Diseases and a past chair of the International Board of the American Society for Microbiology. In 2015, Keith was elected to membership in the US National Academy of Medicine. He has chaired or served on numerous expert committees for the World Health Organization (WHO), the Welcome Trust, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He serves as an editor or member of the editorial advisory board of Clinical Infectious Diseases, Emerging Infectious Diseases, and MBio.

Professor Klugman has made significant contributions in the field of pneumococcal research, including antimicrobial resistance. His work demonstrating pneumococcal conjugate vaccine efficacy in the developing world has led to interventions that continue to save millions of lives, especially in Africa and Asia. He has published more than 650 scientific papers, which have been cited more than 44,000 times to date. During the COVID pandemic, he has kept the staff of the Gates Foundation up to date on developments with weekly or biweekly one-hour Zoom calls open to all the staff. His current position allows him the opportunity to contribute to the mission of the Gates Foundation to reduce deaths from pneumonia (including COVID-19), neonatal sepsis, and meningitis in children, thus allowing them the chance to lead healthy and productive lives.

Gagandeep Kang

Gagandeep Kang is the Director of the Enterics, Diagnostics, Genomics, and Epidemiology team in the Division of Global Health at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Until 2023, she was at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, India, leading a program on enteric infectious diseases and nutrition. Her group’s research has focused on the needs of India’s underprivileged populations over three decades. The work has resulted in surveillance that has informed government prioritization and in the evaluation of vaccines that are now being used worldwide.

Kassim Jimale

Mr. Kassim Jimale is the VP of research and development for Jamhuriya University of Science and Technology (JUST) in Mogadishu, Somalia. He is also a senior Somali National University (SNU) lecturer. He served as the incident Manager of COVID-19 preparedness and Response in Somalia. One of his significant achievements in the Somali public health sector is reestablishing Somalia's National Public Health Reference Laboratory (NPHRL) after its destruction during the war in Somalia. Mr. Jimale is completing a Master's of Global Health Delivery (MGHD) at the UGHE in Rwanda. Mr. Jimale also holds a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) in Medical Microbiology from Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan. He is passionate about global health delivery and research.

Aamer Ikram

Professor Aamer Ikram is currently Chair of the Advisory Board for Training Programs in Epidemiology & Public Health Interventions Network (TEPHINET); member of Technical Advisory Group–Biosafety, WHO; Executive Board International Association of National Public Health Institutes; Board Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance; Global Council International Vaccine Institute; Executive Committee Institute of Safety in Technology & Research, UK. Previously, he was the Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Federation of Biosafety Associations and other influential bodies. He focuses on IHR, GHSA, IDSR, One-Heath, Biosafety & Biosecurity, and AMR. He has made immense contributions as CEO of the National Institutes of Health Pakistan, including the COVID-19 pandemic response. He has a microbiology doctorate and has earned fellowships in the field, accompanied by a substantial body of published work.

Alison Holmes

Alison has a longstanding clinical and research career in global infectious diseases, with particular interests in antibiotic use, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), epidemiology, and public health within healthcare and has served on the Executive Committee of the ISID, chairing the Education and the Publications Committee and introducing the Emerging Leaders initiative. She is a Professor of Infectious Diseases at Imperial College, a Fellow of the UK’s Academy of Medical Sciences, and a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Senior Investigator. Professor Holmes leads a large multidisciplinary research group and network with solid international collaborations. She is the Director of the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAI) and AMR and the Centre of Antimicrobial Optimisation at Imperial College. She is an Associate Medical Director in the National Health Service, leading a multi-professional service, and a senior ID consultant.

In addition to her work in infectious diseases, she has served as a medical advisor to VSO, UK, and was involved in refugee health, health, and human rights. She was an expert member of the Governmental Advisory Committee on AMR and HCAI for nine years. Professor Holmes now chairs the Technical Advisory Group for the Fleming Fund. She sits on various WHO expert groups and committees and sits on or chairs numerous national and international scientific advisory boards, funding panels, and editorial boards.

Alison spent much of her life overseas. She attended Cambridge University as an undergraduate and then went to St George’s Medical School in London. She worked in communicable diseases and tropical medicine in Oxford, gained her DTM&H from London, and was awarded an ID fellowship to spend at Boston University, where her research was conducted in the Maxwell Finland Laboratories and where she gained an MPH in International Health from Harvard School of Public Health. Professor Holmes serves on the Finance Committee and the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.

Robert Heyderman

Professor Robert Heyderman is a clinician scientist whose work bridges clinical practice, disease prevention, and the fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of infectious disease. He has established a Mucosal Pathogens Research Group at UCL, whose research in the UK and Africa addresses the microbial and immunological basis of severe infection caused by mucosal pathogens and their prevention through vaccination, the regulation of inflammation, and diagnosing and managing meningitis and sepsis. He is the Director of the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Mucosal Pathogens (MPRU), which is an interdisciplinary translational partnership that brings together internationally recognized UK and African investigators to tackle limitations in the long-term effectiveness of existing vaccines to prevent meningitis, pneumonia, and sepsis through new approaches to interrupting mucosal pathogen carriage/transmission. His research at the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Programme (www.mlw.mw) combines internationally-leading science and research training to improve people's health in sub-Saharan Africa.

Abdulrazaq Habib

Abdul Habib is a professor of infectious and tropical diseases and epidemiology and a consultant physician at Bayero University Kano (BUK) and Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria. His research focuses on clinical infectious diseases, global health, and tropical snakebite. He is a former dean and foundation provost of BUK College of Health Sciences. He is a member of the Nigerian Immunization Technical Advisory Group, Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) workgroup on meningitis vaccines, and Snakebite antivenom experts at WHO Geneva. He is the immediate past president of the Nigerian Infectious Diseases Society and the current chair of the International Society on Toxinology - Africa & Middle East section.

Nicolette du Plessis

Professor Nicolette du Plessis, a registered Paediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist, is an Associate Professor and Head of the Paediatric Infectious Diseases Division of the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Pretoria and Kalafong Hospital. Her interests and research in the field of Paediatric Infectious Diseases led to her PhD, which focused on early HIV diagnosis and treatment. Other interests include immunology, allergy, travel medicine, tuberculosis, immunization, vaccine-preventable diseases, outbreak investigation, and antibiotic stewardship. Her recent research projects focus on pediatric COVID-19 and HIV. She is currently the president of FIDSSA and serves on numerous advisory boards locally and nationally.

Scott Dowell

Scott F. Dowell, a pediatric infectious disease specialist by training, serves as Senior Advisor, Global Health Emergency Corps at the World Health Organization (WHO). Before that, he spent a decade overseeing disease surveillance work at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He led its $2 billion response to the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing a small amount to saving some 19 million lives. Dr. Dowell spent 20 years at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he studied viral and bacterial pneumonia and responded to outbreaks of Ebola and other pathogens. He established and directed the International Emerging Infections Program in Thailand, a collaboration that received accolades from both the Thai and U.S. governments for its prominent role in responding to the SARS crisis and for its leadership in defining the response to avian influenza A (H5N1) in Southeast Asia. He led CDC’s response to the earthquake and cholera epidemic in Haiti, helping to rebuild the public health infrastructure and contributing to the saving of an estimated 7,000 lives.

Dr. Dowell established the agency's Global Health Security Agenda as the Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for International Health Regulations and the Division of Global Disease Detection and Emergency Response. In 2014, he retired from the U.S. Public Health Service at the rank of Rear Admiral and Assistant Surgeon General. Dr. Dowell has co-authored more than 190 publications, holds an Uber rating of 4.89, and is particularly interested in targeted reductions of childhood mortality.

Shui Shan Lee

Dr. Lee is a clinician and specialist in internal medicine, immunopathology, and public health. He joined The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2005 and is currently a Professor and Deputy Director of the University’s S.H. Ho Research Centre for Infectious Diseases. Between 1991 and 2005, Dr. Lee headed the Hong Kong Government’s AIDS programme, directing the territory’s HIV prevention, control and treatment services. He is the founding president of the Hong Kong Society for HIV Medicine and was chairman of the government’s scientific committee on AIDS and STIs between 2016 and 2022. Since 2022, he’s been serving as the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Infection Diseases. Dr. Lee has, on various occasions, served as a consultant to national and international organisations in the assessment of HIV situations, programme evaluations, and advice on harm reduction development. His primary areas of research interest include a biomedical approach to HIV/STI prevention, infectious disease epidemiology, and emerging infectious diseases. Dr. Lee has authored over 300 peer-reviewed articles and 40 book chapters and is the editor of the HIV Manual in Hong Kong.

Sean Wasserman

Sean Wasserman is a clinical academic with training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases. He has an active programme of clinical research on treatment optimisation for tuberculosis, HIV, and associated opportunistic infections. His research aims to address clinically important questions through translational studies, emphasizing reducing the infection burden in underserved populations. Sean has spent most of his career in Cape Town, South Africa. After completing specialist training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, he undertook a PhD in the clinical pharmacology of linezolid for drug-resistant tuberculosis. Sean recently took up a position at St George’s, University of London, as a Reader in Infectious Diseases at the Institute for Infection and Immunity. Sean maintains an adjunct appointment as Associate Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town, where he is a Principal Investigator at the Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa (CIDRI-Africa). He also holds honorary appointments as an Associate Professor at the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology, University of Exeter, and as an International Fellow at the Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University. Sean served as a pharmacologist on the ACTG Tuberculosis Transformative Science Group from 2019 to 2023 and is a member of the NIH-CDC-HIVMA/IDSA Guidelines Committee for Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Adults and Adolescents with HIV. The Lancet journal profiled Sean as a ‘rising star in TB-HIV research and medicine’ and has received awards from the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID), the InterAcademy Partnership, and the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. He is an ISID council member.

Sally Roberts

Dr. Sally Roberts is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia. Until recently, she was the Clinical Director for the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (LabPlus). She is the Clinical Lead for Microbiology at Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand) Te Toka Tumai Auckland district. She is an honorary senior lecturer at the University of Auckland and an associate investigator for the Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, one of the seven Centres of Research Excellence in New Zealand. She also works for Te Tāhū Hauora, Health Quality & Safety Commission New Zealand as the National Clinical Lead for the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) programme supporting the Hand Hygiene New Zealand, Surgical Site Infection Improvement programme and other quality improvement programmes. This role fosters her strong interest in clinical governance and patient safety. Over the last five years, Dr. Roberts has been on the Ministry of Health (MOH), Health Antimicrobial Resistance Coordinating Group, the MOH National COVID-19 Technical Advisory Group, and chaired the IPC TAG. She enjoys teaching and has contributed to the professional development of many of her junior colleagues across New Zealand.

Paul Tambyah

Paul Tambyah is the current International Society for Infectious Diseases president. He is a Professor of Medicine at the National University of Singapore and a Senior Consultant Infectious Diseases Physician at the National University Health System. After graduating from the National University of Singapore Faculty of Medicine and completing national service in the Singapore Armed Forces Medical Corps, he trained in Infectious Diseases under Dr. Dennis Maki at the University of Wisconsin. Since returning to Singapore more than 20 years ago, he has served on several national and international committees. He is also past President of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection. His research interests are in device-associated infections and emerging infectious diseases.

Linda MacKinnon

Linda is the Chief Executive Officer of the ISID. A dedicated and long-standing champion of healthcare equity, infectious disease advocacy, and epidemic intelligence innovations, Ms. MacKinnon leads the Society’s extensive Program Portfolio mission. Ms. MacKinnon believes that early warning detection, management, and education of infectious diseases in a One Health context is necessary to empower those shouldering the heaviest burden of diseases, especially those living in low- and low-middle-income countries. Before joining ISID, Linda spent years leading ongoing information technology support and onsite subject matter expertise to further directives for AIDS relief in various countries, including Eswatini, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Vietnam, and Ukraine. Linda served as lead Epidemiologist at Atlanta’s US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) within the CDC’s National Center for Infectious Diseases. Prior to the CDC, Linda lived and worked in West Africa, working with frontline community workers to improve the lives of those most in need.

Elkin Bermudez

Dr. Bermudez holds an MD degree from the Universidad del Rosario, completed an MSc in Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases in Fiocruz, and holds a Ph.D. in Infectious Diseases from UNIFESP, Brazil, where his research project focused on resistance to HIV antiretroviral treatment. He has been working internationally in the global health field for more than 15 years in international organizations such as MSF and FIND in the areas of Epidemiology, Infectious Diseases, Monitoring & Evaluation, and Operational Research, supporting field teams in countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East and from headquarters in Europe. Previously, he worked in clinical research and participated in projects on treating neglected diseases in South America. Dr. Bermudez joined ISID in 2022 and collaborated with the team in advancing the management of scientific agenda-related activities and grant coordination.

Aisha Abubakar

Aisha Abubakar (nee Ahmed Umar) [MBBS, MPH Field Epidemiology, PhD Public Health FWACP] is a seasoned epidemiologist and Public Health Physician. She is a Professor/Consultant with the Ahmadu Bello University and the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital in Zaria, Northwestern Nigeria. Professor Abubakar has a Master's in Public Health in Field Epidemiology from the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, a Postgraduate Certificate in Health Research from the University of Lancaster, UK, and a Ph.D. in Public Health from the Atlantic International University, USA. She is also a Fellow of the Faculty of Community Health of the West African College of Physicians (FWACP). She has taken a step from academia and is now a Manager of Scientific Programs at the International Society for Infectious Diseases. She is also a ProMED Anglophone Africa moderator for the International Society for Infectious Diseases. Her main interests are Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Infection Prevention and Control, and Public Health Surveillance. She is passionate about Infectious Diseases and Global Health.

Afreenish Amir

Dr. Afreenish Amir (MBBS, M.Phil, Ph.D. (Microbiology), MPH, CHPE, DHM, Ph.D. Public Health Scholar) is a medical microbiologist with over fifteen years of experience in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases. She is working on implementing the Pakistan National Action Plan on One Health Antimicrobial Resistance, Laboratory systems, AMR and AMC Surveillance, Stewardship, and Advocacy. She has been engaged in the Pakistan AMR Surveillance System (PASS), Candida auris fungal diagnostics, Asia Pathogens Genomics Initiative, Tricycle One Health Integrated AMR Surveillance (WHO), Environmental Surveillance of Cholera, LQMS training and National Antimicrobial Stewardship Program. She has 80 publications in national and international journals, and many are underway. She is a Harvard Kennedy School and GCSP Geneva alumna (on Global Health Security), GIBACHT fellow on biosafety and biosecurity (Germany), Lead Auditor ISO 9001:2015 (CQI, IRCA UK), Ex-Chair Emerging Leaders program in Infectious Diseases ISID (USA), Visiting Faculty Rawalpindi Medical University, a member of the WHO Advisory Group on the Bacterial Priority Pathogen List, a member of the Expert Group for WHO Global AMR Research Agenda in human health, Pakistan Biological Safety Association, Federal Region Chapter Head, Board Director for Mehnaz Fatima Foundation Gilgit, and Consultant Clinical Microbiology for American Society of Microbiology (USA).

Adeeba Kamarulzaman

Professor Adeeba Kamarulzaman is the President and Pro Vice-Chancellor of Monash University Malaysia. Prior to this appointment, she was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, and continues as an Honorary Professor at UM and as Adjunct Associate Professor at Yale University, USA. An infectious diseases physician by training, Professor Kamarulzaman is a passionate advocate for social justice, especially as it pertains to HIV prevention, treatment and care, and drug policies. She serves as the Chairman of the Malaysian AIDS Foundation and is the immediate Past President of the International AIDS Society. She is also the founding Chair of the ROSE Foundation, an organization committed to eliminating cervical cancer in Malaysia and regionally. At the international level, Professor Kamarulzaman has been an advisor to numerous WHO, UNAIDS, and UNODC committees on HIV/AIDS and substance use. She is presently Vice Chair of WHO’s Science Council and is a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy and the Global Council on Inequalities, HIV and Pandemics. Her achievements have been recognized through several national and international awards, including as a two-time recipient of the prestigious Merdeka Award and recently as Tokoh Akademik Negara. In April 2015, she was honored with a Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from her alma mater, Monash University, for her role as a health advocate and contributions to medicine.

Sipho Dlamini

Sipho Dlamini, MBChB, FCP(SA), Cert ID(SA)Phys is an Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital, in the Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine, the Department of Medicine, in Cape Town, South Africa. He is a clinical Infectious Disease specialist with a research interest in HIV and tuberculosis and the use of vaccines for vaccine-preventable diseases in adults living with HIV infection. He has published over 44 peer-reviewed papers and three book chapters. His clinical and research activities have allowed him to be involved in exciting studies. He is actively engaged in teaching and mentoring students locally and internationally. He has been an invited speaker to local and international conferences.

He serves as a member of the following committees: the National Immunization Safety Expert Committee (NISEC) for the National Department of Health South Africa, the WHO African Regional Immunization Technical Advisory Group, and the ESCMID Professional Affairs Subcommittee (PAS).

Lucille Blumberg

Professor Lucille Blumberg is a highly respected infectious diseases specialist who sits on many national and international expert groups. Her contribution to protecting the public from infectious disease has been hailed as the epitome of sustainable groundbreaking research.
Born in Johannesburg, after enrolling at Parktown High School for Girls, she studied medicine at Wits, graduating in 1974. She did her internship at what is now Helen Joseph Hospital and followed this with a distinguished postgraduate academic career. Her specialist qualifications include a Diploma in Child Health, a diploma in Occupational Health, and one in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. She obtained a specialist Master of Medicine degree in Microbiology from Wits in 2003 and became a subspecialist in Infectious Diseases in South Africa in 2010.

Her work experience started at what is now Chris Hani Baragwanath before becoming Principal Medical Officer at what was then Rietfontein and is now Sizwe Tropical Diseases Hospital. In 2002, she became a deputy director at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases. She still holds this position today. She was the founding head of the Institute’s Division of Public Health, Surveillance and Response. Now, she consults for this division, which includes travel medicine and clinical infectious diseases. Professor Blumberg is a sought-after expert in viral outbreaks, evidenced by her membership in many national and international committees.

Gonzalo Bearman

Gonzalo Bearman is Chair of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Richard P. Wenzel Professor of Internal Medicine (Tenure), focusing on clinical infectious diseases, public health, and healthcare epidemiology at the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System. He is a graduate of Colgate University (BA), SUNY at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (MD), and Columbia University (MPH). Dr. Bearman completed a residency in Internal Medicine and was Chief Resident at SUNY at Buffalo. He then completed a fellowship in Infectious Diseases and a Preventive Medicine/Public Health residency, both at Cornell University. Dr. Bearman is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, General Preventive Medicine, and Public Health.

Arun Balajee

Dr. Arun Balajee is the Associate Director for Global Health Sciences in the Division of Viral Diseases. She has a decade of field experience designing and implementing surveillance programs in countries in every region of the world. Arun has led numerous infectious disease outbreak investigations, including Ebola, MERS CoV, and SARS CoV-2. She leads a team of epidemiologists who implement event-based surveillance and enhance public health intelligence.

Patrick Baffuto

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Kokou Alinon

Dr. Kokou Alinon has over 17 years of experience as a healthcare professional and over 14 years as a Public Health professional with solid academic knowledge and professional experiences in Public Health Policy and Management, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Disease Surveillance. He is from the Republic of Togo in West Africa and has a Master’s degree (DEA and DESS) in Health Psychology. Before joining Africa CDC, he worked for Togo’s Ministry of Health as the Palliative Care National Program Coordinator, ensuring the development, management, and implementation of palliative care programs. He has been the Non-Communicable Disease Surveillance Division Lead for over four years.

Jaffar Al-Tawfiq

Dr. Jaffar Al-Tawfiq is the Accreditation & Infection Control Director at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare Dhahran, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. He is also a Consultant of Internal Medicine & Infectious Diseases and the Director of Accreditation and Infection Control at JHAH. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Al-Tawfiq has received several accomplishment awards locally and internationally. He is recognized as a world leader in coronaviruses and a top global infection control expert. Dr. Al-Tawfiq is a scientist and researcher, and his current interests include hospital epidemiology, healthcare-associated infections, antimicrobial resistance, antibiotic stewardship, and emerging respiratory pathogens, including MERS-CoV and COVID-19. He is also renowned as a researcher in mass gatherings.